New York City’s Water Story: From Mountain Top to Tap
SCHOHARIE COUNTY
Schoharie Reservoir 1,130 FEET Gilboa Delaware Watershed Stamford Catskill Watershed The water we use
today is the same C a D t Prattsville s DELAWARE COUNTY e k Siuslaw l water that fell as rain a i l l w Windham West Branch Delaware a W r a when dinosaurs roamed e t W e rs GREENE COUNTY a h Schoharie Creek the earth. In its endless te e r d sh Grand Gorge e cycle, water is the d Delhi Lenox Roxbury only substance that East Branch Delaware Hunter Tannersville naturally exists as a Andes solid, liquid or gas. Walton HUNTER MOUNTAIN 4,040 FEET Margaretville Shandaken Tunnel COLUMBIA COUNTY
Massachusetts Downsville Phoenicia Water’s journey Deposit Pepacton from mountain top Cannonsville Reservoir Woodstock to tap begins when 1,280 FEET Esopus Creek Reservoir 1,150 FEET rain and snow fall East Delaware Tunnel SLIDE MOUNTAIN Boiceville West Delaware Tunnel 4,180 FEET on watersheds, the Frost Valley areas of land that Neversink River Ashokan catch, absorb, and Reservoir carry water downhill Claryville Olivebridge 590 FEET Kingston to gently and swiftly Rondout Creek flowing streams. r C e
A v T i Grahamsville S
K R IL L DUTCHESS COUNTY Neversink Reservoir n A Neversink Q o 1,440 FEET Tunnel Rondout Reservoir U s E Streams provide d
Liberty D
u
840 FEET U
C
H life-cycle needs for T fish and other aquatic
organisms. Oxygen is DELAWARE AQUEDUCT ULSTER COUNTY Ellenville Poughkeepsie added as water tumbles
Connecticut
over rocks into deep
pools. Overhanging
branches keep water
cool as fresh water SULLIVAN COUNTY Croton
continues its journey. Pawling D Watershed e la w a r Water is naturally e R Newburgh Beacon iv filtered by the soil and er tree roots in dense Boyd’s Corners Clearpool forests as it travels West Branch PUTNAM Bog Brook toward reservoirs. COUNTY Lake Gleneida Pennsylvania Middle Branch The sun’s heat energy Lake Gilead ORANGE COUNTY Kirk Lake East Branch releases some water Port Jervis Diverting molecules back into Legend Mahopac Croton Falls the atmosphere as New Jersey Amawalk gas, continuing the Titicus hydrologic cycle. New York State Peekskill Muscoot Cross River County Boundary New Croton 196 FEET Thousands of skilled NEW CROTON AQUEDUCT workers constructed New York City Watershed New York Mount Kisco dams and reservoirs to store large amounts Watershed Boundary ROCKLAND COUNTY DELAWARE AQUEDUCT of clean water and Area of New York State aqueducts to carry Reservoir, River, Lake and Water Body it great distances Kensico Reservoir by gravity from City/Town Hudson River 357 FEET watersheds to CATSKILL New York City. New York City AQUEDUCT
OLD CROTON AQUEDUCT Old Croton Aqueduct WESTCHESTER COUNTY Long Island The 41-mile Old Sound Croton Aqueduct was New Croton Aqueduct Hillview Reservoir 295 FEET the first to deliver a clean and plentiful Catskill Aqueduct Jerome Park Reservoir 135 FEET supply of water to High Bridge NYC. The High Bridge, Delaware Aqueduct Bronx completed in 1848, st River Central Park Reservoir Ea carried the aqueduct Water Tunnel across the Harlem River Manhattan NASSAU COUNTY on large stone arches. Model Forest Visitor Center at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility 15 FEET Queens High Point (elevation above sea level) Fresh water flowed Decorative compass rose with through the Old Croton Trout in the Classroom Release Site New Croton Aqueduct cross-section; used on 1880s maps to celebrate the Brooklyn Aqueduct, filling Silver Lake Jamaica new water supply system. reservoirs where the Water Treatment Facility Reservoir Bay Great Lawn in Central Staten Park and the Public Island Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility New York Atlantic Ocean Library on Fifth Avenue MILES 10 20 Harbor now stand. People rejoiced when a third reservoir was built to support a growing city. Maps are amazing tools that help us find our way and explore new places. Your map uses colors, shapes, images, scale, and words to show the source Today, thousands of of our water, its importance in our lives, and its endless journey. We hope that miles of pipes deliver 1 billion gallons of you enjoy learning about our shared water story. water daily from the Croton, Catskill, and Create your own compass rose. Delaware watersheds to more than 9 million people. How do you use water? How much water do you think you use? Your name
After we use water, it travels down the drain Find where you live. What is it near? and through sewer pipes to 14 wastewater resource recovery facilities where it is cleaned and Find your school. What is the closest body of water? returned safely to the waterways surrounding New York City. Find the reservoir closest to your school. What is its name?
Water is all around us. We experience it in many different ways using all of our senses. Where does your used water - and stormwater - go? As water cycles through its endless journey, we appreciate that it will continue to nourish us and all living things. Why is it important to learn about water?
December 2019 Learn more at nyc.gov/dep or email us at [email protected].